President Lee Myung-bak attended the Korea-ASEAN Summit and the ASEAN+3 Summit meetings in Hanoi on October 29 and discussed ways to enhance cooperation between Korea and ASEAN member countries.
President Lee and the leaders of ASEAN countries agreed to upgrade Korea-ASEAN ties to the level of “strategic partnership” based on the level of Korea-ASEAN cooperation since the SEAN-Korea Commemorative Summit last year. They also adopted a joint declaration and action plan backing Lee’s proposal.
They further agreed to deepen and enhance Korea-ASEAN cooperation in the economy, trade, culture, human exchange, security and other sectors.
The president proposed establishing a South Korea-Mekong Foreign Ministers’’ Meeting in order to narrow the development gap among ASEAN member countries and strengthen economic cooperation near the basin of the Mekong River.
President Lee Myung-bak (center left) poses with ASEAN leaders at the ASEAN-ROK Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Oct. 29. (Photo: Yonhap News)
ASEAN, in response, expressed its thanks for Korea’s proposal and hoped the proposed meeting will help vitalize cooperation between Korea and ASEAN.
President Lee said the Korea-ASEAN free trade agreement (FTA) contributed to this year’s record-breaking volume of trade between Korea and ASEAN nations. He also stressed the need to actively use the Korea-ASEAN FTA in order to continuously increase the volume of bilateral trade in the future.
Lee stressed the importance of cultural and human exchanges between Korea and ASEAN, and leaders agreed to expand a scholarship program for the ASEAN region in order form a youth network in the region and to actively cooperate on the “Korea-ASEAN Cyber University” project.
They also agreed to set up measures to jointly respond to various regional security threats like terrorism and drugs through security dialogue.
Meanwhile, ASEAN leaders expressed their thanks for the Korean government’s invitation to the upcoming G20 Seoul Summit and showed interest in discussing the key agendas. President Lee asked for ASEAN member countries’ support to ensure the success of the upcoming G20 Seoul Summit.
By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer
